iPads in the Classroom

I was lucky enough to receive 2 iPads last year to use in my classroom. One was through a grant that my kindergarten colleagues and I wrote and the other was gratiously purchased through our school's PTO. I am still beyond thrilled to have them!!! So far I have mostly just used them as a center. I stumbled accross a really cool iPad directions and managment tips from Two Fulbright Hugs. If you don't follow her blog you really should. You'll find lots of wonderful freebies and great ideas! I printed up the student direction cards and placed them in a binder at our iPad center. This allows the students to be able to see which app I would like them working on that day and saves me from having to help them get started. What apps or iPad management tips are working in your classrooms? I would love some feedback!

New year, new classroom, new blog design!

One of my many goals for this school year is to dive back into teacher blogging. Last year was a crazy one for me. My husband and I had our first baby. Any extra time that I had was spent preparing for her arrival and then snuggling my sweet girl when she finally got here. :) This paired with the super annoying fact that our school's internet filters were blocking ALL of the good stuff including teacher blogs (even my own) lead to my deadbeat blog! We have a new internet provider this year and so far there is better access. Fingers crossed that it stays that way. Any other teacher friends have this problem at your schools? In an attempt to get back into blogging I purchased a new blog design from Dreamlike Magic and I love it! They have a variety of design templates that are really reasonably priced and she will have it installed in 24-48 hours. You can't beat it! I've moved rooms over the summer and have been busy organizing, labeling, tweaking, reorganizing, and finally feel like I'm settled in the new space. It's a good thing because we are on day 16 of school today. Ha! I have much more room this year and I love it! Kindergarten is doing a monster theme this year...MonSTARS to be exact. Here is a look around my room this year...

We found some great monster activities in Deanna Jump's Back to School Unit. These Monster Gylphs were a perfect way to decorate our hallway.